Best Loot
A potentially contentious subject, to be sure. However, this guide only sets out to show four parameters: Material, Tier, and Drop Rate, and combinations of the three. Especially rich chest contents are also shown; this is of course independent of Drop Rate as such, but multiple playthroughs with New Game Plus require time expenditure that is comparable with farming drops. At the beginning of the game, the best guaranteed loot weapons (Starting Weapons) are the Rapier, Broad Sword, and Glaive, in that they can carry their Affinity and Class bonuses on to other weapons of their same Design in normal Progressions. Damage Type Resistance :See Type Maximizing armor Type should be the last goal for Vagrant Story players; it is by a vast amount the most time-consuming task. Maximizing Weapon material and Design and affinities is nothing in comparison. The vast numbers of drops required are the primary reason to maximize returns by looking for the Best Loot. Material * * * * * * * * Armor Material seems self explanatory, but that is deceptive. The masterful guide: "Vagrant Story: Ultimate Armor FAQ by SRiesterer" shows that, while is the goal, not one piece of Damascus is required to make an entire set of it at full Type resistance. Instead, the two best formulas in Rare Combinations in Vagrant Story are used to transform the final or penultimate pieces: Hagane Leg 1st slot + Silver Leg 2nd slot = Damascus Leg, and Silver Leg + Hagane Body = Damascus Body. Prevalence is used to transform yet more Hagane into the final Damascus Head (Legs + Glove = Helm) and Arms (Legs + Body = Arm). It seems unlikely that this recipe can be improved at all. It would doubtless have to be by using Prevalence that is elsewhere on the hierarchy (Legs + Head, Arms + Body, Arms + Head, or Body + Head) Weapons Rhomphaia, Holy Win and Rare Combinations Tier :See Best Combinations This is the most difficult assessment of item value. Armor Tier Type may be of greater consideration than Tier for armor Weapon Tier Tier is complicated by the fact that weapons have different numbers of Tiers. Great Axe and Staff have only six tiers, while Dagger, Polearm and Sword have twelve. The products of combinations are almost always limited to weapons with no higher a number of tiers than the lowest tier ingredient. Generally, though, it can be observed that the top Tiers of all weapons combine well, as is intuitively appropriate. The following may or may not be borne out by 'Best Combinations': However, one might expect more of the twelfth Tier Polearm, Brandestoc, than the sixth Tier Destroyer or Sage's Cane, even though they are all their Design's highest Tier weapons. This is not borne out in reality. The system used for non-Same combinations is similar to the punitive Mismatch for Same combinations. In Mismatch, combinations that are close together but not consecutive have inferior results to combinations that widely spaced. In the case of non-Same combinations, equal or widely spaced combinations are superior, so weapons that have the same number of Tiers get the best results, at least in comparison to how high their Tier is. The 12th Tier Rhomphaias in the Second Dungeon of the Iron Maiden accessible in the second-playthrough are a mixed lot, since Rhomphaias never advance Tier. The result is always the same design. If the other blade is a single-handed design, the result takes on the Rhomphaia's material. So Rhomphaias, and to a lesser extent ones, overpower all but the best crafting strategies; what does it matter how the final Tier is achieved, as long as the end result can be instantly turned into Damascus? * Rhomphaia 10/255 and 8/255 (pretty hard to beat as a strategy to create single-hand weapons) * Rhomphaia 13/255, 8/255 and 5/255 (useful in Rare Combinations strategies, or as a way to transform weapons that would otherwise be scrapped) * Rhomphaia 13/255, 10/255 and 5/255 (mostly useless) There is some pretty tough competition for even the Damascus Rhomphaia, however. Only the Brandestoc Polearm weapon is prohibitive, with recipes ranging from around 164 to 280 blades required. Drop Rate When drop rate is compared with other item qualities, it surprisingly becomes much less of an issue. It will take two items to make another of even a single Tier higher. Weapon and armor drop rate is below 32/255 except for one Sword and one Shield.32/255 Hagane 5th Tier Firangi and 32/255 Hagane Tower Shield, both in the Forest River in the Snowfly Forest Two weapons at 32/255 is more difficult, on average, than one at 16/255; there is travel time to be considered-the two are unlikely to be at the same location-and of course time spent in the Workshop. Halve the drop rate for every Tier, and it is no more difficult to raise weapons at 32/255 four tiers higher than it is to farm a 2/255 weapon. 2/255 is a lower chance than the most notoriously difficult weapon of all, the 12th Tier Sword, the Damascus Holy Win, at 3/255. Skeptics may well question the wisdom of relying on very low probabilities. After all, they are nothing like certainties. But four tiers and 32/255 is nothing; there are 12-Tier weapons, and there is only one 32/255 weapon drop and one 32/255 shield in the entire game. The number quickly increases at 26/255 to 28 weapons, but that is less than the thirty-two 13/55 weapons, most of which are Damascus or at least Silver. Damascus Weapons Damascus Jamadhar :''See Damascus Jamadhar * Shotel x eight, Damascus Tabar x eight, Baselard x twelve. Two fewer Tabars and one less Baselard for each Damascus Kris from the following sources: ** 13/255 7th Tier Damascus Kris: Four drop as loot in the Second Iron Maiden, one in a chest in Second Abandoned Mines* ** With access to Godhands, Two Damascus Lug Crossbows combined to make a Siege Bow, combined with a Shotel of any material, makes a Damascus Kris. ** In the second playthrough, the Ogre Zombie (with Death) in the Time Trials drops a Damascus Bastard Sword, combined with a Silver Siege Bow (or any material at Godhands), makes a Damascus Kris. Two Lug Crossbows required to make the Siege bow; none drop Damascus Crescent, War Maul, Halberd :''See Damascus Crescent, War Maul, Halberd * Tabar 6th Tier Axes drop at 16/255 in Those Who Fear the Light. * The Tabar + Silver Khukuri to make a War Maul. In the second playthrough, at the Godhands Workshop, any material of dagger can be used. Silver Kris and Hatchet to make the Khukuri * Another Khukuri plus War Maul makes a Halberd Damascus Wakizashi :''See Damascus Wakizashi * Damascus Shotel 5th Tier swords, also from Those Who Fear the Light in Temple of Kiltia, is even easier, as getting over 150 HP before entry is effortless compared with remaining under. Four are needed ** Lug Crossbow x eight, four Silver Hatchet. Lug Crossbow + Lug Crossbow = Siege Bow; Hatchet + Siege Bow = Falchion.VAGRANT STORY DAMASCUS WEAPONS AND ARMOR FAQ v1.2, By Wicked Souls Damascus Arbalest, Runeblade :''See Damascus Arbalest, Runeblade * A Arbalest can be easily made from four of the Lug Crossbows that drop from Gremlins in the Limestone Quarry; specifically Where the Serpent Hunts and Atone for Eternity. In the first playthrough, (Damascus Arbalest + (1st play-silver) Baselard = Damascus Nodachi) x 2 = Damascus Runeblade from ten blades. * The Azalea Sigil found in the Second Iron Maiden Dungeon opens up the Death + Ogre Zombie Time Trial in the The Keep, which offers a repeatable 13/255 chance of a Bastard Sword. Collect four, combine two, combine two again, combine the resulting Nodachis to make a Damascus Runeblade. Damascus Sage's Cane :''See Damascus Sage's Cane In the second playthrough, the way to get the highest-tier Sage's Cane with the lowest number of blades is to kill Deaths until two penultimate Damascus Bishop's Crosiers drop at 13/255. This is actually only two blades, and so a Baselard of any material, or another blade, can be combined with one of the Sage's Canes to get Three Blade Affinity and Class. This is easy enough that it can become a strategy to create other weapons with, see Best Combinations. Only Daggers can be combined with the Staves and still retain the Damascus, as per Design Prevalence. Damascus Destroyer :''See Damascus Destroyer In the first playthrough, Tabar can be combined with daggers and a staff to make a Destroyer of four blades thusly: Tabar + Khukuri = War Maul, + Khukuri = Halberd, + Sage's Cane = Destroyer. There are other useful dagger+staff combinations: * Trident (Stiletto + Bishop's Crosier) in particular, and to a much lesser extent Kudi, Griever, Windlass, and Cranequin. * A Jamadhar (four Baselards) can be combined with a Damascus Sage's Cane (see above) to make a Destroyer. Six blades total. * Twelve-blade Wakizashi + Sage's Cane = Destroyer. Damascus Brandestoc :''See Damascus Brandestoc Brandestoc can be made, in the second playthrough, of 42 blades, 34 less than described elsewhere (for each Voulge from the Mining Regrets chest that is used, 9 fewer blades are needed, for a minimum of 24 blades). In the first playthrough, without the helpful Blood Lizards to drop Damascus Fauchards, it takes 104 blades, which is 68 blades less than elsewhere. * Trident = Damascus Bishop's Crosier (2nd play) + Stiletto * Corcesca = Damascus Shamanic Staff (2nd) + Khukuri ** or Corcesca = Rare Combination: Shamanic Staff (no drops, has to be crafted) in the first slot and the Double Blade from a chest in the Where Body and Soul Part room in the Escapeway, in the second slot. This makes an Awl Pike, and with another Trident, a Boar Spear * Second-playthrough Fauchards from the Blood Lizards in the Forgotten Pathway Added, makes a Voulge, and another Fauchard to make a Pole Axe. * Another Pole Axe can, of course, be made from a dropped or crafted Fauchard and the Damascus Voulge found in the Mining Regrets room in the First Abandoned Mine, which room is available after the Temple of Kiltia. * A Crescent see above, first playthrough, four blades) plus a Destroyer (see above, four blades) makes a Boar Spear of eight blades ** Fauchards from the 2nd play makes Pole Axe again, and this can be used to make a Brandestoc on the second playthrough. This is nine blades per Pole Axe, one more than the above chest Double Blade recipe ** Alternatively, a Nodachi (see above, five blades, or two on the second playthrough) plus a Destroyer of four blades (see above) makes a Fauchard of nine blades in the first playthrough (and six in the 2nd, but Fauchards drop whole then). Four Fauchards, each added to one of four Voulges: Six Damascus Fauchards from drops, total-the remaining two are used to craft Voulges. Two Voulges from chests, and two crafted. The Voulges are crafted of two Fauchards and two Boar spears, each made from a Crescent and a Damascus Destroyer. Silver Tabars drop at over 10% from a Crimson Blade Jackboot in Rue Crimnade in the Town Center East; four make a Crescent. The Destroyer: Damascus Tabar, each with two Khukuri added one by one, and a Sage's Cane added to each afterwards. The second-playthrough recipe list in full (for the first playthrough, all ingredients that are not Damascus must be Silver, but they can be any material once Godhands is opened in the second playthrough): two Voulges from the same chest, six Fauchards, eight Tabars, two Tabars, four Khukuris, two Sage's Canes. For each Voulge that does not come from the chest, add another two Damascus Fauchards, four Tabars, one Damascus Tabar, two Khukuris, and a Sage's Cane Damascus Armor Inasmuch as Armor has the consideration of Type, which can only come from the armor pieces and cannot be accumulated by the player as with Affinity and Class, the best armor is Tilt Glove, with its twelve resistance to all three types of physical damage-Blunt, Piercing, and Slashing. Morphs are then used, along with the rules of Equipment Prevalence, to make all four Equipments. Holy Dread Armor -896 pieces required for the full 100/100/100 resist. If it is not possible to get this with fewer pieces, it -should- have been made possible. On the other hand, when the final result reduces enemy damage to negative numbers, perhaps it should not have been made possible at all. See also * Best Combinations * Rare Combinations in Vagrant Story Citations Category:Armor Category:Game Mechanics Category:Guides Category:Weapons Category:Workshop Category:Ultimate Weapons Category:Ultimate Armor